VERVEPOINTS

Monday, September 25, 2017

“I no blame dem”, I muttered under my breath in
annoyance. “Wetin concern me with dem before?" I asked no one in particular as I
gunned the engine of the car and zoomed off to my next destination. I was at my
wits end. “Who be the ‘dem" you ask?Well, ‘dem’ happened to be some private
elementary schools visited in the course of my search for a suitable school for
my ward, a search I had grossly underestimated. Going by their signboards,
there is an ‘international’ private school in every neighbourhood; in fact my
residence is situated adjacent to one.

Some school owners take the term, Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
too literally, “What’s the big deal in setting up a school?” they ask. “It
should be as simple as ABC since it is for children!” Their countless hours spent
browsing design websites such as Pinterest and Houzz must account for
something! Next line of action is to lease a property (bungalow or duplex
depending on the availability of funds) splurge money on some fancy play sets,
splash bright colours on the wall, commission an artisan to fabricate the
partitions for the spaces, sprinkle a hearty dose of children themed wall
decals, and viola, the building is ready. "Who needs a design professional?
Afterall na two brains dem get?!"

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Once again, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”! I simply cannot get
enough of the dry harmattan air, the early morning and evening haze, the
bustling energy seemingly at boiling point across the major markets and
shopping malls as buyers and sellers rush to make last minute transactions. Then there is the awesome food. Speaking of
which, would any Christmas/ New Year’s Day menu be complete without the wonderful
staple of jollof rice? Our mum certainly took no prisoners with her Yuletide jollof
rice. Hers was simply the best, no contest! Add her equally delicious teeth
sinking - lip smacking- finger licking fried fresh chicken, and the world to a
young me then could not have been more perfect! So good was her jollof rice
that you would find me happily scrapping away and eating the burnt ‘bottom pot’
portion of the rice even after a couple of days as though my life depended on
it!

Saturday, December 03, 2016

1. President - elect Donald Trump and his opponent, Hilary Clinton during the first Presidential Debate

The highly
anticipated election for the 45th President of the United States of America has
finally been dispensed with. Phew!We no see or hear word that
period! Preceded by a contentious, acrimonious and no holds
barred contest, the emergence of Donald Trump as the President- elect over the
preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton sent shock waves across the world. In
Nigeria, we went to sleep with Hillary in an early lead but woke up on the
9th of November 2016 with the unlikely and underrated Donald Trump
getting the required number of Electoral College votes to win. What a red
letter day!!

One of the
many campaign policies of President-elect Trump was the commitment of at least
$ 500 billion to infrastructural spending over a five year period. The spending
is required to fix America’s ageing and decaying infrastructure – airports,
schools, hospitals, bridges, and train stations. From all indications, American
architects will be very busy! It was against the backdrop of this
campaign policy that the executives of the American Institute of Architects
(AIA), the umbrella body for registered architects in the United States,
pledged its commitment to working with President-elect Trump in the
strengthening of the nation’s ageing and decaying public infrastructure. The
outrage and backlash from the architectural community was fierce and immediate
forcing the AIA executivesto
publicly apologize for what it termed “a hasty and tone deaf post – election
message”.

Hold it! Stop I said!! You may want to think
twice before you make that bed of yours or tidy up your room! Yes you heard
right. That unmade bed and untidy room can make you famous and make you very rich, and I am talking in millions of foreign currency here. You think I’m joking? Okay let's confirm from Tracey Emin, the British artist whose messy
(dirty)bed/room installation sold for a record £ 2.5 million in 2015. The installation is currently on loan for public viewing for the next decade at the Tate Modern Museum, London.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Firstly, belatedly though, let me
join the teeming number of proud Nigerians in saluting our contingent to the
Rio 2016 Paralympics where Team Nigeria with her stellar performance shone like
a million stars with a formidable medal haul comprising of twelve medals.

Asides the 2016 Olympics and of
course the ubiquitous Brazilian weaves (which we cannot get enough of); Brazil occupies
a key position in West African history for both good and bad reasons. Brazil
accounted for roughly forty percent of the African slaves brought to the Americas
during the Atlantic slave trade with most of them processed at Bahia before
being sent off to plantations across the country. Centuries after the slave
trade, the Yoruba influence is still heavily felt in Bahia where their dialect is
a blend of Portuguese and Yoruba. Deities such as Orunmila, Obatala, Ogun,
Sango, Obatala, etcetera are also worshipped. Babalawos nko?Dem dey there too!!
Even local delicacies are well represented, take for instance the utterly scrumptious
fried bean cakes called ‘akara’ here, in Bahia, ask for acaraje instead!

Saturday, October 08, 2016

The 3rd of October, 2016 was
World Architecture Day. Every first Monday in October has been set aside
annually to celebrate architecture and its practitioners. World Architecture
Day which also coincides with the World Habitat Day of the United Nations was
created in 1985 by the International Union of Architects (UIA), a global
federation of national associations of architects that represents over 1.3
million architects in 124 countries and territories.

Friday, September 09, 2016

On
Thursday 4th August 2016, the ancient city of Benin, Edo State hosted the second
edition of the Nigerian Institute of Architects Distinguished Lecture Series.
The lecture series which was initiated by Immediate Past National President of
the Nigerian Institute of Architects (2013 – 2015), Arc. Waheed Niyi Brimmoh is
to enable the generality of national Architects benefit from the wealth of experience
from Past Presidents.

In
2015, the maiden edition of the series held in Abuja with Chief Dr Alex
Ekwueme, 2nd President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (1967
– 1968), Past President of ARCON and first civilian Vice-President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria as the lecturer. Befittingly his lecture topic was “Architecture:
Management & Participation of Architects In Nigeria’s Political Class”.

About Me

I am Odigie Agatha who in her spare time fancies that she is global in her outlook yet indigenous in her pride (whatever that means!!) A chartered architect, she firmly believes that life can be optimized through excellent design. Agatha is hung up on fashion, writing and visual arts. Her work-life mantra is “Huge doors are swung on small hinges”. She sometimes sounds sensible on Twitter @Afroagatha, not very often though!!